EIT/FE Exam
The EIT (Engineer-In-Training), also known as the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering), Exam is a test that almost all Civil Engineers have to take. The examination essentially covers everything that a Civil Engineer has seen in classes since entering college and even has sections for classes they will never take. It is 8 hours long and takes place in what looks like an airplane hangar. Anyone in the greater Los Angeles area who is taking the exam is asked to appear at the Pomona Fairplex at 7AM on a Saturday morning. Of course they make everyone stand around for over an hour before letting in the examinees.
But this isn’t any ordinary test. Examinees aren’t even allowed to bring a pencil. Your belongings must be placed in a clear plastic bag and typically consist of an approved scientific calculator, a driver’s license, and a registration form. No cell phones, backpacks or purses allowed.
Once inside the building, the first thing you notice are the rows upon rows of tables. Tables as far as the eye can see. You settle down in a seat as a proctor reminds you not to sit next to anyone you know. For the next 30 minutes, while tests are being distributed to the 3000+ examinees in attendance, an old man speaking through a microphone rambles on about the rules of the examination.
Finally, the morning session begins. It is four hours long, but make sure to bring a wristwatch or wall clock because you won’t be informed how much time is remaining until there are 15, 5, and 1 minute left. There are 120 problems, which provides 2 minutes per problem. Thankfully, the questions are not too difficult. Even if you haven’t the slightest idea how to solve a problem, there is a chance you may be able to find the correct formula in the provided Reference Handbook. This book, which is even larger than your exam booklet, has almost every formula or theorem that may show up. Most don’t.
Would you like to use the restroom? Only one individual from each proctor’s set of tables may be excused at a time and is provided a bathroom pass. It is probably the only time in recorded history that there is a line out the door for the men’s restroom, while the women’s is essentially empty. The restroom pass is also synonymous with eating pass, as many examinees will take a snack with them and consume it near the bathroom. Eating is not permitted while at your table.
If you have not finished the exam when 15 minutes are called, you are forced to stay until time ends. This can be frustrating, especially if you fill in your final bubble just as the old man mumbles, “15 minutes remaining” and conveniently forgets to turn off his microphone, which results in his heavy breathing reverberating throughout the building while others frantically try to finish.
When the first portion of the examination ends, examinees are provided with an exit pass. Yes, you must have a pass to exit the building in which you are taking the exam in order to take a 45 minute lunch which consists of whatever is packed in your car that has been sitting in a parking lot under the rays of the sun since the crack of dawn.
After returning to the building, new exam booklets are distributed and the next four hours are set to begin. You are confident because the morning session was easier than expected and all the practice problems you solved beforehand may have provided you with an advantage. You expect these problems to be slightly more difficult because you are allotted the same amount of time for 60 problems, which equates to 4 minutes per question. What ensues can be described as confusion, disbelief and horror. These problems are exponentially harder than the ones from the morning session and the Reference Handbook is no longer your friend. The 4 minutes per question doesn’t even cross your mind. You could sit there all day and there would still be some problems that you could never answer.
Somehow you manage to complete the afternoon session of the examination. It required much guessing, day dreaming and brainpower, but it is finally over. You turn in your exam, take your exit pass and plastic bag of belongings and pray that you passed.
Your results will be in the mail in 13 weeks.
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